Tessa’s POV
The alarm chimed for the fourth time this morning and I snoozed it while tying my shoelace. I didn’t know how to turn it off because it was spoiled and I couldn’t afford to replace it. I found it one time when I was coming home from school. It was not of good quality but it was the best I could find so I decided to take it back home.
Now, it chimed repeatedly every morning until it decided that it was ready to stop. I slept heavily last night and it was already past the time when I usually went to school. A heavy knot tightened in my stomach when I remembered what was waiting for me in school because I came late. I always liked to come super early so I could hide in the shadows, away from the bullies of my school but I didn’t get the privilege to wake up early every day.
Today was one of those days, unfortunately. I marched out my home, which was the last thing my parents left for me. I didn’t know them because they left the pack immediately after giving birth to me. I had always wanted to look for them but I didn’t have the resources and neither the time, so I kept the task for another day.
The walk to school was short. It wasn’t that far from my house, which was located next to the pack’s palace. I was glad about that because I didn’t want my shoes to get worn fast. When I got into the school, I lowered my head even though I knew that it wouldn’t save me from Emma.
Emma was the daughter of the beta. She was mean and self-centered, which made everyone hate her but yet they are afraid of her. Everyone was just scared to get into the clutches of the most evil man in the pack, her father. It was to no shock that he was her father because they were both the biggest bullies ever.
I braced myself for another day marred by her relentless bullying. On my way, I bumped into someone and when I looked up to apologise, my biggest fear was standing in front of me. Emma.
“Oh look who is here.” She smirked, staring down at me, then my clothes. I groaned as I took a glance at her minions behind her and my chest tightened.
“What do you want?” I grumbled under my breath.
“You see this,” she pointed at the shirt I was wearing. “It is never going to cease to irritate the hell out of me. I want you to remove it now so I can go and burn it.”
I stared at her like she had lost her mind. She might just have. I looked around and people started to gather around us. It has always been like that. Emma bullied every Omega she came across and the students gave her the attention and hype she needed. I couldn’t wait to be done with school and be away from this toxic space.
“Please just allow me to go. I have a class.” I answered her.
“It is not my fault, blondie. I told you clearly to not wear this shirt the last time we met but you being you, will still find a way to defy me. Why do you always put me in that position, Nessa?”
I nearly rolled my eyes. She could remember the exact shirt I wore a few days ago and yet she cannot remember my name. She was so full of s**t, and I have had enough of her.
“I am not going to remove my shirt in front of everyone, Emma. Please allow me to leave or I am going to report you to the principal.”
She looked like she had been smacked right in the face, “Are you threatening me?” Her voice was filled with surprise, and then her face morphed into an angry expression.
“Just let me go please.”
“If you report me to the principal, then what?” She took a step towards me and I took one back. “My father is going to make a generous donation and yet another wing in this school will be built under the name that I choose. What else?”
I should have known that it was a terrible idea to do this. I shouldn’t have crossed her. Now, she was going to humiliate me in front of everyone and there was nothing I could do about it.
As her taunts escalated, I felt an overwhelming sense of helplessness, trapped in the vicious cycle of her twisted games. She had gained some sadistic pleasure from my suffering that I don’t think I will ever understand.
“Please,” I started to beg but before I could utter another one, she pushed me to the ground, and I hit my limbs on the hard concrete. I groaned as I tried to lift myself up, but she wouldn’t allow me as she pressed me down with her leg.
“This is what I do to people that defy me.” She said in a loud tone before she bent down to my level. She started to pry my shirt off my body. The crowd erupted into gasps as she managed to remove it, leaving me with only my bra.
I closed my eyes as I heard my eyes sting but just when I was about to let the tears flow, a commanding voice sliced through the chaotic atmosphere. I turned to see him—the son of the alpha—striding toward us. His presence demanded attention, and even Emma stilled under the weight of his gaze.
“What the hell is going on?” His voice was filled with authority.
Everyone was quiet in fear of him. Unlike Emma, Tristan was feared by everyone in the pack mainly out of respect for him and his aura. He was a year ahead of me and I have known him all my life, but never have I ever seen him smile. He was stoic and stiff like a robot. He wore the same shades of clothes every day, and he smelt like he had been dipped into a pool of wealth.
.